Avid fans of Mandopop star Jay Chou have eagerly awaited the singer’s newest album, which was initially promised way, way back in the simpler times of 2017.
Titled Greatest Works of Art, Chou’s 15th album will officially drop on July 15. Expect one piano intro, six new singles, and five previously released singles from earlier years. It has been six years since the singer released his 14th album, Jay Chou’s Bedtime Stories.
As a lead-up to the drop of the entire album, the title song’s music video was released on July 6. In less than 24 hours, the official MV had racked up more than 5 million views on YouTube. Comments under the video appear overwhelmingly positive, with many praising the artist’s talent, vision, and creativity.
The music video takes its song title literally and pays homage to artistic greats of the past and present. In addition to featuring world-renowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang, ‘Greatest Works of Art’ nods to Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte, Catalonian surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, French impressionist painter Claude Monet, and Chinese-French modernist master Sanyu. Chou’s lyrics also reference musical genius Frédéric Chopin and Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.
Staying true to the theme of art across time, the tune blends classical music with rap and R&B.
The multitalented star also brings magic, one of his favorite performing art forms, to the table. While it might seem cheesy to some, Chou has performed magic tricks on many other occasions, including the 2020 Netflix travel show J-Style Trip.
Multiple hashtags related to Chou’s newest album and its title song have been trending on Weibo; the hashtag for the album has been viewed more than 420 million times on the Chinese social media platform. As for the music video, it has almost 130 million views on Weibo and 14 million views on the streaming platform Bilibili.
Fans, including Chou’s celebrity friends and brands such as McDonald’s, have heaped praise on the new song.
While one fan gushed, “This is my Jay Chou! I want to cry at the end,” ex-EXO member Lay Zhang posted, “Jay Chou creates a wonderful fantasy with musical notes. The new album is finally here after six years!”
“Get ready — this might become a new dance beat,” said Taiwanese singer Liu Genghong, who recently went viral for his home workouts choreographed to Chou’s music.
Amidst all the excitement surrounding the new album, Chou and his team have experienced several hiccups. Earlier this week, more than 100 netizens took to the review platform Douban to share their impressions of the new, not-yet-released album (which is rumored to have leaked online).
Polarized reviews from music lovers are adding to the confusion of a possible album leak. While half of the premature reviews gave the album a five-star rating, many only gave it a one-star, dragging the album’s overall Douban rating to a discouraging score of 5.3/10.
On Monday evening, Douban released an official apology for allowing its users to review an unreleased album.
“We have turned off the ratings and cleared all the reviews,” reads the statement. Douban blamed the issue on a “software bug” and has assured everyone that nothing of the sort will happen again.
Official presales for the album begin on July 8.
All images via Weibo
